Quebec and Canada Strong - Highlighting measures to protect, build, and transform Canadian strategic industries

MONTRÉAL, Sept. 8, 2025 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, highlighted a series of new strategic measures for Canadian industries most impacted by U.S. tariffs and trade disruptions, including aluminium and steel. These initiatives will help Canadian businesses retool their production and diversify their products.

These new measures include the following:

• A new Strategic Response Fund: The government will invest $5 billion through a new fund with flexible terms to help firms in all sectors impacted by tariffs adapt, diversify and grow, with support provided to industries by new workforce alliances to align training and workforce needs.
• A new Buy Canadian policy: The government will introduce a new policy to ensure the federal government buys from Canadian suppliers, require local content when domestic suppliers are unavailable, extend this approach to all federal funding streams and Crown corporations, and provide a roadmap for provinces and municipalities to apply similar standards to their own procurement.
• Immediate liquidity relief: The government will expand Business Development Bank of Canada loans for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to $5 million, provide more flexible financing through the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan Facility, and give the auto sector flexibility by waiving 2026 model year vehicles from Electric Vehicle Availability Standard requirements and by launching an immediate 60-day review to reduce costs.
• Regional Tariff Response Initiative: The government will expand support to SMEs to $1 billion over three years, with flexible terms, and increase new non-repayable contributions to eligible businesses impacted by tariffs across all affected sectors, including agriculture and seafood.

The aluminum industry is one of many that build Canada and will be central to our future competitiveness as a country. As we build the economy of the future, the government is ensuring business and workers in the aluminum sector can seize opportunities at home and around the world.

Quotes

"The Government of Canada is investing now to protect Canadian workers and industries impacted by unjustified U.S tariffs. We are bringing forward new measures that will fortify our economic strength and protect and transform our strategic industries. Opening new markets at home and abroad for our industries will create new opportunities for Canadians and build up supply chains across the country."
– The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions

Quick facts

• The $5 billion invested through the new Strategic Response Fund will help businesses adapt to the new economic landscape and give them time to invest in their future. The Strategic Response Fund will support large-scale transformative innovation while seeking to maintain industrial capacity by offsetting new market access costs, supporting retooling and facilitating plans by Canada-based firms to expand or secure new markets. The Strategic Response Fund would have flexibility to fund pre-development and demonstration activities, including front-end engineering design studies for firms significantly adversely impacted by tariffs.
• The Strategic Response Fund is part of a broad set of tariff support measures, including the workforce alliances, the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan Facility, the Business Development Bank of Canada's Pivot to Grow initiative and the Regional Tariff Response Initiative. Together, these measures are reinforcing Canada's industrial strength and defending jobs across the country. Given the current economic challenges and trade disruption, this program replaces the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) but will continue to support innovation projects as did SIF. Existing and potential SIF projects will not be stopped or deprioritized.
• The workforce alliances and the Strategic Response Fund will complement each other to ensure a comprehensive and strategic response for tariff-impacted firms and to ensure that fund recipients receive support to address workforce challenges. 
• The new Buy Canadian policy will help Canada be its own best customer. This new policy will ensure the federal government buys from Canadian suppliers; require local content and purchases from trusted partners when Canadian suppliers are truly unavailable; expand this approach to infrastructure spending, grants, contributions, loans and other federal funding streams; streamline regulation and introduce new supports to ensure businesses can access federal procurement; apply this mandate to federal agencies and Crown corporations so the government leverages all the dollars at its disposal; and provide a roadmap that can be adopted by provinces, territories and municipalities.
• To support the liquidity of all sectors impacted by tariffs, the government will immediately provide:
  • more low-cost capital for small and medium-sized businesses through the Business Development Bank of Canada, increasing its maximum loan size from $2 million to $5 million
  • flexibilities to the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan Facility, including lower interest rates and longer maturities
  • necessary flexibility for the automotive sector by exempting the Electric Vehicle Availability Standards in 2026 and by undertaking a broader review to provide additional flexibilities and reduce costs
• The government is more than doubling the Regional Tariff Response Initiative—from $450 million to $1 billion over three years, including to provide non-repayable contributions of up to $1 million to businesses in all impacted sectors—in order to allow more SMEs to invest in their growth, diversify markets and create new revenue sources by adopting innovative technologies and bringing new products and services to market.

Related products

• Backgrounder: Prime Minister Carney launches new measures to protect, build, and transform Canadian strategic industries

Associated links

• Strategic Response Fund
• One Canadian Economy
• Prime Minister Carney launches new measures to protect, build, and transform Canadian strategic industries

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Contacts: Gabrielle Landry, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, [email protected]; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, [email protected]